Related papers: Lensing by a singular isothermal sphere and a blac…
We study the problem of gravitational lensing by binary galaxies, idealized as two isothermal spheres. In a wide binary, each galaxy possesses individual tangential, nearly astroidal, caustics and roundish radial caustics. As the separation…
The lensing properties of the Plummer model with a central point mass and external shear are derived, including the image multiplicities, critical curves and caustics. This provides a simple model for a flattened galaxy with a central…
Recent observations indicate that many if not all galaxies host massive central black holes. In this paper we explore the influence of black holes on the lensing properties. We model the lens as an isothermal ellipsoid with a finite core…
We study gravitational lensing of light by hairy black holes, which, in a certain parameter regime, can possess two photon spheres of different size outside the event horizon. In particular, we focus on higher-order images of a point-like…
A galaxy can act as a gravitational lens, producing multiple images of a background object. Theory predicts there should be an odd number of images but, paradoxically, almost all observed lenses have 2 or 4 images. The missing image should…
The primary optical caustic surface behind a Kerr black hole is a four-cusped tube displaced from the line of sight. We derive the caustic surface in the nearly asymptotic region far from the black hole through a Taylor expansion of the…
We study the gravitational lensing properties of a massive object in a dark matter halo, concentrating on the critical curves and caustics of the combined lens. We model the system in the simplest approximation by a point mass embedded in a…
The supermassive black hole at the center of a distant galaxy can be weighed, in rare but realistic cases, when the galaxy acts as a strong gravitational lens. The central image that should be produced by the lens is either destroyed or…
In this work are reviewed several aspects of gravitational lensing produced by astrophysical bodies that strongly curve the spacetime in their vicinity. When an object with a photon sphere (e.g. a black hole) is interposed between a source…
The existence of a massive black hole in the center of the Milky Way, coinciding with the radio source Sgr A*, is being established on more and more solid ground. In principle, this black hole, acting as a gravitational lens, is able to…
Black holes are a common feature of the Universe. They are observed as stellar mass black holes spread throughout galaxies and as supermassive objects in their centres. Observations of stars orbiting close to the centre of our Galaxy…
In this paper, we study the gravitational lensing effects of non-linear electrodynamic black holes. Non-linear electrodynamic black holes serve as typical models for multi-event horizon black holes. Depending on the choice of metric…
The strong galaxy-galaxy lensing produces highly magnified and distorted images of background galaxies in the form of arcs and Einstein rings. Statistically, these effects are quantified, for example, in the number counts of highly luminous…
To date, the study of high-magnification gravitational lensing effects of galaxy clusters has focused upon the grossly distorted, luminous arc-like features formed in massive, centrally condensed clusters. We investigate the formation of a…
A method is developed to evaluate the magnifications of the images of galaxies with lensing potentials stratified on similar concentric ellipses. A simple contour integral is provided which enables the sums of the magnifications of even…
In quasars which are lensed by galaxies, the point-like images sometimes show sharp and uncorrelated brightness variations (microlensing). These brightness changes are associated with the innermost region of the quasar passing through a…
We study the problem of gravitational lensing by an isothermal elliptical density galaxy in the presence of a tidal perturbation. When the perturbation is fairly strong and oriented near the galaxy's minor axis, the lens can produce image…
An arbitrary surface mass density of gravitational lens can be decomposed into multipole components. We simulate the ray-tracing for the multipolar mass distribution of generalized SIS (Singular Isothermal Sphere) model, based on the…
In the neighborhood of Sgr A*, several stars (S2, S12, S14, S1, S8, S13) enjoy an accurate determination of their orbital parameters. General Relativity predicts that the central black hole acts as a gravitational lens on these stars,…
We examine the possibility of observing gravitational lensing in the weak deflection regime by the supermassive black hole in the center of the galaxy M31. This black hole is significantly more massive than the black hole in the center of…